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Tri-Valley's Hunter Harner, left, tries to escape from Bethlehem Catholic's Ryan Todora during their 138-pound seventh-place bout Saturday at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. Todora, who defeated Harner in the district and regional tournaments, edged Harner 2-1 in overtime.

HERSHEY - Nearly seven months ago in the August heat, Blake Bowman put on his shoulder pads, cleats and Tri-Valley helmet and began running plays out of the Dawgs' backfield.

As the team's featured running back and a standout linebacker, Bowman hit and got hit, tackled and got tackled literally thousands of times during the fall.

It was all worth it as Bowman set school rushing records in a 10-2 season that ended with the Dawgs as the District 11 Class A runner-up.

As the football season wound down, Bowman jumped right into wrestling, shooting for takedowns and standing up off the bottom literally thousands of times. The senior middleweight also sacrificed by limiting some of his favorite foods and soft drinks to drop the necessary pounds.

In the consolation finals of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships on Saturday, it was all worth it.

Scoring all of his points on a second-period throw, Bowman defeated Burrell's Phil Marra 5-1 to finish third at 145 pounds.

With no more weigh-ins or matches to worry about, Bowman's ready for a rest - and maybe a Mountain Dew or two.

"It feels great. I've got to thank my dad (Brian) 100 percent,'' said Bowman, smiling through a face full of cuts and mat burns. "He's been pushing me and believing in me that I could do it. My body feels it now, that's for sure.''

Bowman finished the highest of the four Tri-Valley placewinners as senior Ty Schoffstall (160) came in fifth, sophomore Caleb Bordner (113) took sixth and sophomore Hunter Harner (138) placed eighth.

Four placewinners in one season is also a Tri-Valley record. Co-head coach Dave Boltz said a school official confirmed the numbers Friday.

For Schoffstall, only a gold medal would have satisfied him. Instead, he had to settle for an 8-6 decision over Benton's Jeric Kasunic.

An ankle-pick takedown with 3 seconds left in the first period gave Schoffstall the lead, and two more takedowns pushed his advantage to 8-3 with 56 seconds remaining in the third.

Schoffstall, an Edinboro University wrestling recruit, finished 33-5 for the season and 146-23 in his career.

Eighth as a freshman, Bordner climbed two steps higher as a sophomore. He's close to rising even higher as his three losses were by a combined five points.

In his fifth-place bout, Claysburg-Kimmel's Josh Brown used a second-period takedown and another with 2 seconds left in overtime to defeat Bordner 4-2. Bordner (36-13) managed two escapes.

"I feel that I wrestled good," Bordner said. "I could have won two out of the three matches I lost, just elementary mistakes I'm making and I've got to improve on them. That's what I dream of some nights. I'm down here, getting into the placement rounds, just thinking to myself, 'Could be a four-time state medalist. It would be pretty cool.'

"I know I've got to pick it up and do more in the offseason,'' he added. "I'm going to go to Benton a lot for the freestyle practices they run, and hopefully, if I can, do Fargo (nationals).''

In his seventh-place bout, Harner (37-13) ran into Bethlehem Catholic's Ryan Todora, who won their earlier-season meetings in the district and regional finals. Todora took this match, too, escaping in the first tiebreaker period and riding Harner for a 2-1 overtime decision. Harner also vowed to put in more offseason work.

"I wrestled all right, wanted to do a little better I guess,'' he said. "Maybe next year get a little higher (on the podium). I feel like I accomplished something this year.''

So did Bowman (39-9 season, 135-42 career), who made the most of his first and only trip to the medals stand.

After a scoreless first period, Marra escaped to start the second. The pair flurried at the edge of the mat, with Bowman tossing Marra just inbounds for the decisive five-point move, a change-of-pace from a wrestler who relies on a potent, effective leg attack.

"I couldn't get my shots going because he was on his knees and wrestled very defensive,'' Bowman explained. "I was pushing into him. I got him to come up to his feet. He was coming in too hard so I just threw him.''

And when Marra hit the mat with a thud and the referee started counting back points?

"The only thing I could think of was the medal and just lowering the number, putting the icing on the cake,'' Bowman said.

NOTES: Schuylkill Valley head coach Duane Maurer became a member of the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class of 2013. Maurer, a 1976 Tri-Valley High School graduate, was head coach at Pine Grove for 13 seasons (143-86-3), winning two Schuylkill League championships, three District 11 dual-meet championships, two District 11 tournament team championships and three Southeast Regional titles. With the Cardinals, he coached 16 individual District 11 champions, 17 Southeast Regional champions and 19 PIAA medalists, including two state champs. Since 1993, Maurer has coached at Schuylkill Valley, where his teams have compiled a record of 305-102-1. â¦ Tri-Valley finished tied with Milton for eighth place in the team standings with 34 points. Bethlehem Catholic (86.5) won the team title. â¦ Three-time state champion Michael Racciato of Pen Argyl was named Outstanding Wrestler. Bowman finished second to Racciato at districts and regionals.

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